Automatic packaging machine



Dec. 28, L. EHE

AUTOMATIC PACKAGING MACHINE Filed NOV. 1, 1961 67 a? 29 27 f a INVENTOR.ALBERTA. E HE ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,225,513 AUTQMATICPACKAGING MACHINE Albert L. Ehe, Bayside, N.Y., assignor to MuiticupAutomation Company, Inc, Woodside, N.Y., a corporation of New York FiledNov. 1, 1961, Ser. No. 149,310 7 Claims. (Cl. 53-160) This inventionrelates to automatic machinery for pack aging articles. Moreparticularly, it relates to the packaging of articles, such asconfections, in multi-compartmented trays.

In the packaging of many products, automatic methods and machines havesupplanted manual packaging. However, for many reasons, the packaging ofconfections, such as chocolates, in paper cups and in boxes has nothitherto been adopted commercially as an automated operation. Amongthese reasons are the fragility of the product, the ease with which itmay be marked and made unattractive in appearance, the diversity oftypes of the product and the special packing patterns employed, whichare subject to change frequently, plus the complexity of the equipmentpreviously developed and the need for a substantial proportion of handoperations to supplement the machines performance. Similar reasonsaccount for the failure to invent automatic packing machines for otheritems, in addition to the chocolates mentioned above. The presentmachine provides a comparatively simple and trouble-free mechanism forautomatic packaging of confections and articles of similar packingproperties. An important aspect of the invention is in the slidingmechanisms which facilitate transfer of the articles being packed from atransporting means to the tray into which they are being packed. Theinvention, its objects and advantages thereof will be understood fromthe following description, taken in conjunction with the illustrativedrawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the invention, partially cut awayto illustrate the packing of confections in paper trays and cardboardboxes;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment of the invention illustratedin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the same machine; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical section along plane 44 of FIG. 2, illustrating theoperation of the slide means for conveying the confections from articledelivery belt to receptacle cups.

In accordance with the invention, a machine for automatically placing aplurality of articles into compartments in a multiple compartmentedpacking tray comprises means for simultaneously moving a plurality ofarticles, means for moving a multiple compartmented packing tray belowthe articles and means for controlling the relative movements of themoving means so that the articles are indexed to compartments thereforin the packing tray. Between the moving means are means for supportingand conducting the articles from the moving means to the compartments ofthe packing tray. Such supporting and conducting means, at itsdelivering end, is below the upper edge of the packing tray compartmentinto which an article is being conducted, when the article is beingdischarged to the compartment, and is above the upper edge of thecompartment, which is also the upper edge of the adjacent compartment,when the supporting and conducting means is raised after delivery of anarticle.

The invented automatic packing machine includes article delivering means11 which comprises an article delivery belt 13 of the continuous endlessbelt type, stretched tightly or otherwise held so that the uppersupporting surface thereof, 15, is held straight, free of anyobjectionable sag. Upper belt surface 15 is downwardly inclined, fromdriving cylinder 17 to idling bar 19, of thin cylindrical stock. Drivecylinder 17 is powered by a belt 21 driven by motor 23. In theembodiment of the invention shown, both the drive and idling cylindersare held in movable relationship with each other by mounting on the thinside walls 25 and 27 of a suitable frame for the machine. The frame issuitably rigidified by conventional means. The rigidity of the frame isincreased by the presence of the driving and idling cylinders of thearticle delivery belt, already described, and also by the presence ofsimilar cylinders on tray and box delivery means, to be described later.As is apparent from the drawing, bearing surfaces must be provided forthe belt drive parts but these may be conventional designs and are notspecially indicated in this description.

The article delivery belt 13 has a plurality of articles to be packeddistributed over its upper surface 15 in an ordered arrangement so thatthey may be packed into the compartmented packing tray. Articles 29 areconfections, such as the well-known chocolates or bon-bons. They areprevented from being badly misaligned by th presence of side rails 31and 33 which are adjustable by movement of adjusting nuts 35, for rail31 and by movement of nuts 37 for rail 33. The rails are regulated inposition according to the size of the candies and the number ofcompartments per tray. To facilitate placement of the rails in correctpositions for each size combination, the screws on which nuts 35 and 37are threaded may be marked along their lengths. Better still, the beltsurface 15 may be marked, as at 39. Marking of the belt, as at 41, alsoallows correct placement of each of the pieces of candy, so that theymay be fed into the compartments of the packing trays with the leastdifficulty. The candies may be placed on the article delivery beltautomatically, as by another machine which is not a part of the presentinvention or such placement may be elfected by hand.

In the foregoing description, the supporting surface of the articledelivery belt was said to be held taut but means for so holding it werenot specifically described. Idling roller 43 may be moved in slots 45 toexert the proper tension on the belt. Also, a piece of form-retainingsheet material, such as metal, acts as a support 47 below the uppersurface 15 of the article belt, to prevent sagging.

Underneath the article delivery belt 11 is a horizontal tray deliverybelt 49. This belt is powered through a pulley 51 belt-driven by belt53, which also rides in the sheave or pulley 55, attached to drivingcylinder or roller 17. The pulleys employed are of variable groove widthand the belt 53 is of the V-type, making the pulley and roller speedsadjustable so that the non-slipping belts which hug the pulleyspositively hold them so article and tray moving means may be correctlyindexed together. Pulley 51 is fastened to roller 56 which drives thetray delivery belt 49, roller 57 being the other end of the belt holdingmeans. Table means 59 helps keep the belt 49 straight and flat, while anidler can be firmly positioned with respect to slots to maintain theproper tension on the belt 49. Although not illustrated, side rails muchlike those of the article delivery belt may also be used to wall thetray delivery belt top surface. Also, the belt may be marked forplacement of the trays.

Between the article and tray delivery belts, there is provided a slidemeans or supporting and conducting means 65 for transferring thebon-bons from article belt to tray compartment. In the drawing this isshown to be a set of four spring metal, preferably spring steel fingers67 bent downwardly near the mid-length of the spring material at 69 andbent into a U-shape 71 at the end to hook through opening 73 in angleiron bar 75. As is seen, the angle 75 is fastened in place under thetake-off end of the article delivery belt by afiixation to frame sides25 and 27. Fingers 67 are shown mounted independently,

one finger for each file of tray compartments 77. Files of compartmentsparallel the belts, while ranks are transverse to them. Instead ofindividually mounted fingers, those mounted together or made from onepiece of material may be used provided that they can perform the samefunction efficiently. The function of the fingers is to allow the candyto slide down the finger, maintained in upright position, withouttipping or inversion, and be deposited in the correct compartment of thepacking tray 79. It will be noted that fingers 67 are depressed orlowered when a piece of candy is advanced by belt 13 onto the finger inthe same file as the candy. The degree of lowering is dependent upon theshape of the U-bend of the finger and the passageway through which it isinserted. As illustrated, the finger is in a downmost position and thepiece of candy resting on it is about to slide into the compartment ofthe packing tray. Of course, the timing of the belt movements will besuch as to cause the candy to be perfectly positioned in thecompartment. The insertion of the article in the tray compartment isfacilitated by the action of the slide finger in spreading open thecompartment, as is shown at 81, where the wall 83 is temporarilydistorted. After insertion of the article in the proper place, thefinger 65 is raised by the next advancing cup to the position indicatedby the broken lines in FIG. 4, allowing the next cup to move intofilling osition without having the forward cup wall pressed downwardlyto a position where it would interfere with the subsequent filling ofthe cup. From the above description, it is clear that fiat-bottomedarticles, such as chocolates, may be packed easily into packing trays bymeans of this invention, and such articles will slide down the fingers65 without turning or tipping. However, the invention may be used forpacking articles other than those with fiat bottom surfaces, although insome such cases the fingers will best be re-designed to prevent thearticles from slipping sidewardly. Such a design may be a channel orgroove in the finger extending longitudinally.

After the articles have been properly placed into the correspondingcups, the trays continue to advance, moving down an inclined slide intothe bottom of a box into which they are packed. Trays 79 are flexibleand conform to the slide surface, as illustrated. Yet, the tray is aunit and therefore is more easily packed into box 83. The box bottomsare advanced into filling position by belt 85 under slide 87. Propertiming is maintained by adjustment of the effective diameter of pulley89 which runs off belt 53. Pulley 89 is positively attached to driveroller 91 and belt 85 turns about that roller and roller 93. Idlingroller 95 is adjustable in slot 97 to maintain the correct tension onthe belt. Adjustable guides 99 and 101 help to position the trays andboxes and avoid mismatching and disalignment.

Use of the present invention is simple and operational techniques arequickly learned, even by personnel who are not mechanically trained orinclined. If the belts are pre-marked with spots where the chocolates orother articles are to be placed, and contain other indicia for the traysand boxes, it is only required of the operator that he make sure thatthe belts are kept loaded, as indicated, with articles, trays and boxes,and that he remove the packed boxes. He need not and should not make anybelt speed adjustments after the delivery means have been coordinated.Keeping the belts full is not any problem for a single operator becausein commercial machines the belts will all be of greater lengths thanthose illustrated and therefore re-loading will not have to be done asfrequently. In the machine illustrated, the belt lengths are shortenedto improve the illustration and to clarify the operations described.

If the belts have not been marked or if it is desired to pack articlesof different sizes or to pack in different trays and boxes, it still isnot a difficult operation to coordinate the belts and then re-mark ormark them for the first time with indicia for placement of the variousitems moved by them. To accomplish this, first the speed of motor 23 orequivalent prime mover is set and articles 29 are arranged on belt 13 inspaced ranks and files. Trays 79 are placed on the tray delivery belt 49and pulley 51 is adjusted until the speed of the tray delivery belt issuch that the rows of chocolates are de posited in the tray compartmentsfor which they are intended. Next, a similar operation is repeated toindex the tray with the box. When the correct speeds and spacings areestablished, which should take no longer than a few minutes ofexperimentation, the belts are marked for placement of articles, traysand boxes. Markings of the type described are useful when the belts ofthe machine are being loaded by hand. When machine loading is employedand the filled boxes are automatically withdrawn, marking of the beltsmay not be necessary or even especially advantageous.

The structure and use of the invented machine for packing articles inmulti-compartmented trays has been described with reference to theforegoing description and the drawing in which a preferred embodiment ofthe invention has been illustrated. It is not meant that the inventionshould be restricted to the device described. Rather, the inventionincludes the subject of the claims and all equivalents to the devicetherein described. Thus, instead of filling a single multicompartmentedtray, 21 pair of such trays, comprising one or more files each, may befilled at a time and both trays may be placed automatically into thesame box. In another version, two or more such trays may be filled at atime and then automatically filled into a plurality of boxes. Theinvented machine may also find use in packing single-compartment cupswhich are fed below the article delivery belt in a file or a pluralityof files. While the invention has been described in reference to fillingcandy cups and trays with chocolates, it is clear that it may also beemployed for packing fruits, baked goods, delicate electrical parts andother items as well.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for automatically placing a plurality of articlesindividually into individual compartments of a multiple and flexiblecompartmented packing tray which comprises a continuous article deliverybelt for simultaneously supporting and moving in ordered relationship aplurality of articles to be packed, a continuous tray delivery belt forsimultaneously supporting and moving a series of multiple compartmentedtrays into position below the articles, the trays each containingidentically located compartments extending in ranks across the traydelivery belt and in files parallelling it and the articles beingpositioned correspondingly on the article delivery belt, variable drivemeans for controlling the relative movement of the belts so that thearticles are indexable to the compartments therefor in the packing traysand slide means between article and delivery belts slidingly to supportand conduct the articles from the article delivery belt to theindividual compartments of the compartmented packing trays, the slidemeans having a plurality of slide fingers extending from positionadjacent to the article delivery belt in the direction of belt movementto free ends, the means for holding the slide fingers in lateral spatialrelationship corresponding to the files of compartments in the packingtrays and means for holding the slide fingers pivotably at the upperends thereof so that the free end of the slide will descend into thecompartments of the tray to be filled, will open the compartment forinsertion of article delivered by the slide, as the tray passes beneaththe slide end, and will be moved upwardly over the compartment side asthe tray advances and after it has had an article placed in thecompartment, to the next compartment, which it will open in like manner.

2. A machine for automatically placing a plurality of articlesindividually into individual compartments of a multiple compartmentedflexible packing tray which comprises a downwardly inclined continuousarticle delivery belt, a substantially horizontal continuous traydelivery belt below the article delivery belt, variable drive means fordriving the belts and controlling relative movement therof and slidemeans between article and tray delivery belts for sliding support andtransportation of articles between the belts, the slide means having astationary transverse member below the article delivery belt and abovethe tray delivery belt, which transverse member has a plurality of holestherein, and slide fingers pivoted, for movement upwardly anddownwardly, about a portion of the transverse member and passing throughthe holes therein, so that articles from the article delivery belt maybe slid downwardly into compartments of trays on the tray delivery beltwhen the slide fingers are in lower position and so that the fingers maybe raised by contact with a wall of a filled compartment, pass over thatwall and descend into a subsequent compartment.

3. A machine for automatically placing a plurality of articlesindividually into individual compartments of a multiple compartmentedflexible packing tray in accordance with claim 2 in which the stationarytransverse slide member has a plurality of substantially rectangularholes therein near the edge thereof nearer to the tray delivery belt andthe slide fingers are of fiat stock bent about the edge of thetransverse member and passing through the holes therein, the bends beingsuch as to limit the upward and downward movements of the fingers.

4. A machine according to claim 3 in which the fingers are of springmetal and are bent downwardly between pivot and delivery ends tofacilitate delivery of articles to tray compartments without tipping ofthe articles.

5. A machine for automatically placing a plurality of fiat-bottomedcandies individually into individual compartments of a multiplecompartmented flexible packing tray which comprises a downwardlyinclined continuous article delivery belt, an idler shaft about whichthe belt reverses direction at the lower end thereof, the shaftextending transversely with respect to the direction of belt movementand being of small diameter, a substantially horizontal continuous traydelivery belt below the article delivery belt, variable drive means fordriving the belts and controlling relative movement thereof and slidemeans between article and tray delivery belts for sliding support andtransportation of candies from the article delivery belt intocompartments of the flexible tray on the tray delivery belt, said slidemeans having a stationary transverse bar with a substantially horizontalupper section in which is a plurality of rectangular holes, and

mounted on the bar, a plurality of flat spring steel slides, narrowerthan the compartments to be filled, each slide being bent sharply backon itself and inserted through the hole corresponding thereto on thebar, so that the slide is held in pivoting relationship with the bar,with the free end of the slide capable of limited vertical movement intoand above the wall of a compartment to be filled with candy, the slidebeing bent in the middle portion thereof to facilitate entry into acompartment without flattening the adjoining compartment Wall and theinclination of the slide at downmost position being great enough toallow the candy to slide downward, of its own Weight, into thecompartment of the tray.

6. A machine according to claim 5 in which the belts are of non-slipconstruction so as to be positively indexed and are marked with indiciafor location of candies, on the article delivery belt, and trays, on thetray delivery belt, so that the candies will be delivered to the traycompartments, as desired.

7. A machine for automatically packing articles in ordered arrangementin boxes which comprises means for simultaneously moving a plurality ofarticles in Ordered arrangement, means for moving multiple compartmentedflexible packing trays below the articles, means for moving boxes, meansfor controlling the relative movements of the moving means so that thearticles are indexed to compartments in the trays and the trays areindexed to boxes into which they are to be inserted, supporting andconducting means between the moving means for supporting the articles inordered arrangement and conducting them from the article moving means tothe tray moving means, and supporting and conducting means between themoving means for supporting the filled trays and conducting them fromthe tray moving means to the box moving means, and supporting andconducting means in both instances are downwardly inclined slides.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,544,125 3/1951Bain et al. 53-159 XR 2,728,508 12/1955 Marasso 53-244 2,844,926 7/1958Mattos 53-160 2,873,771 2/1959 Gerrans 53-250 XR 3,000,154 9/1961Stickleber 53-74 FRANK. E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. LEIGHEY, Examiner.

2. A MACHINE FOR AUTOMATICALLY PLACING A PLURALITY OF ARTICLESINDIVIDUALLY INTO INDIVIDUAL COMPARTMENTS OF A MULTIPLE COMPARTMENTEDFLEXIBLE PACKING TRAY WHICH COMPRISES A DOWNWARDLY INCLINED CONTINUOUSARTICLE DELIVERY BELT, A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL CONTINUOUS TRAYDELIVERY BELT BELOW THE ARTICLE DELIVERY BELT, VARIABLE DRIVE MEANS FORDRIVING THE BELTS AND CONTROLLING RELATIVE MOVEMENT THEREOF AND SLIDEMEANS BETWEEN ARTICLE AND TRAY DELIVERY BELTS FOR SLIDING SUPPORT ANDTRANSPORTATION OF ARTICLES BETWEEN THE BELTS, THE SLIDE MEANS HAVING ASTATIONARY TRANSVERSE MEMBER BELOW THE ARTICLE DELIVERY BELT AND ABOVETHE TRAY DELIVERY BELT, WHICH TRANSVERSE MEMBER HAS A PLURALITY OF HOLESTHEREIN, AND SLIDE FINGERS PIVOTED, FOR MOVEMENT UPWARDLY ANDDOWNWARDLY, ABOUT A PORTION OF THE TRANSVERSE MEMBER AND PASSING THROUGHTHE HOLES THEREIN, SO THAT ARTICLES FROM THE ARTICLE DELIVERY BELT MAYBE SLID DOWNWARDLY INTO COMPARTMENTS OF TRAYS ON THE TRAY DELIVERY BELTWHEN THE SLIDE FINGERS ARE IN LOWER POSITION AND SO THAT THE FINGERS MAYBE RAISES BY CONTACT WITH A WALL OF A FILLED COMPARTMENT, PASS OVER THATWALL AND DESCEND INTO A SUBSEQUENT COMPARTMENT.